question: “Do you hate the Chinese?” In
those days the Dalai Lama’s English was
bare bones, so mostly he relied on a trans-
lator, but he answered this question in
English—emphatically. “No, I do not hate
the Chinese.” Then his secretary trans-
lated, “His Holiness considers the Chi-
nese his brothers.” Fast-forward to today
and Chan, of Chinese descent, has writ-
ten two books, which he has created by
interviewing the Dalai Lama extensively.
In their new release, Wisdom of Compas-
sion, they explore the idea of compassion
in thought, speech, and action.
BUDDHA’S BOOK OF SLEEP
Sleep Better in Seven Weeks with
Mindfulness Meditation
By Joseph Emet
Tarcher 2012; 160 pp., $15.95 (paper)
A dharma teacher in Thich Nhat Hanh’s
tradition, Joseph Emet is the founder of
the Mindfulness Meditation Centre in
Montreal and the creator of A Basket of
Plums, a book with two CDs of songs for
the practice of mindfulness. In the intro-
duction of his new release, Emet draws
attention to a recent survey that claims 75
percent of us have some difficulty sleep-
ing, then goes on to say that many of us
have failed to find relief from the standard
recommendations. We’ve tried creating a
positive sleeping environment, we’ve tried
avoiding caffeine and alcohol in the eve-
ning, and maybe we’ve even tried medi-
cation. Still, however, we find ourselves
tossing and turning in bed. Now Buddha’s
Book of Sleep gets to the heart of the prob-
lem: our agitated minds. For readers new
to mindfulness meditation, Emet explains
the basics of the practice. Then he offers
seven guided meditation exercises geared
toward helping us get the rest we need.
GROWING IN LOVE AND WISDOM
Tibetan Buddhist Sources for Christian
Meditation
By Susan J. Stabile
Oxford University Press 2013; 272 pp., $19.95 (cloth)
Susan J. Stabile ordained as a Tibetan
Buddhist nun and followed the Buddhist
path for twenty years. This was such a long
time that even after she returned to the
religion she was raised in, Catholicism,
she saw it through a Buddhist lens and
found herself spontaneously incorporat-
ing Buddhist practices into her Christian
prayer life. In Growing in Love and Wis-
dom, Stabile explores why it’s helpful to
look outside one’s own tradition for the
means to spiritual growth and offers fif-
teen Tibetan Buddhist contemplative
practices adapted for Christian purposes.
One of the fifteen is a modified tant-
ric visualization practice. Tibetan Bud-
dhists visualize themselves as a Buddha or
bodhisattva for the purpose of recogniz-
ing and bringing forth their own buddha-
nature. So in this vein, Stabile suggests
that Christians visualize the shining face
of Jesus and generate a strong desire to
be Christ—to manifest his love and com-
passion. Stabile then makes compelling
arguments for why this practice, though
borrowed from Buddhism, is a fit for
Christianity. Scripture, of course, is her
starting point. She quotes Philippians 2:5,
“Let this mind be in you that was also in
Christ Jesus.”
ZEN GARDENS
The Complete Works of Shunmyo Masuno,
Japan’s Leading Garden Designer
By Mira Locher
Tuttle Publishing 2012; 224 pp., $39.95 (cloth)
In addition to being a celebrated landscape
architect, Shunmyo Masuno is an eigh-
teenth-generation Zen Buddhist priest
who presides over the Kenkohji Temple in
Yokohama, Japan. When he was a child, he
and his family went to Kyoto, where they
visited various temple complexes with
outstanding gardens, and this affected him
deeply. By junior high he was tracing pho-
tographs of great Zen gardens and in high
school he was sketching his own designs.
At this point, he met Saito Katsuo, a gar-
den designer who allowed him to observe
his work and later become his apprentice.
Now Masuno is the creator of both mod-
ern and traditional gardens across the
globe; their settings range from temple
grounds to high-end hotels to private resi-
dences and even to some more unexpected
locals, such as a crematorium. Zen Gar-
dens is a stunning volume that showcases
thirty-seven of Masuno’s finest works. o
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